Ground covering for athletic and playing areas



Aug. 8, 1967 c. A. OWEN 3,334,556

GROUND COVERING FOR ATHLETIC AND PLAYING AREAS Filed Oct. 8, 1965 INVENTOR.

5 CHARLES A. OWEN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,334,556 GROUNDCOVERING FOR ATHLETIC AND PLAYING AREAS Charles A. Owen, Belmont, Calif.(1660 Lexington Ave., San Mateo, Calif. 94402) Filed Oct. 8, 1965, Ser.No. 493,981 2 Claims. (Cl. 94-7) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Groundcovering for athletic and playing areas applied over and supported on aprepared granular base, said covering comprising (a) coarse sand thatwill not pack or blow and will allow Water to drain therethrough; (b)planer mill cuttings of wood shavings to form a springy base; and (c) anoil-base product free of asphalt to hold the sand and wood cuttingstogether, keeping them from blowing.

An object of the invention is to provide a ground covering that willform a springy base in an athletic or playing area, which is adapted foruse by individuals and teams, the covering being designed so that waterwill drain there through and at the same time the ingredients of thecovering will not blow away or soil the clothing of the persons usingthe area.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ground covering of thecharacter described which may be readily handled and placed in positionon the area to be covered with facility and ease,

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds,and the novel features Will be set forth in the appended claims.

Drawing For a better understanding of the invention, reference should behad to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, inwhich the view is an isometric illustration of a portion of an athleticor playing area having my ground covering applied thereto, a transverseportion being shown in vertical section.

While I have shown and will describe only the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, it should be understood that various changes, ormodifications, may be made within the scope of the appended claimswithout departing from the spirit thereof.

Detailed description Referring now to the drawing in detail, theathletic or playing area A is first provided with a ballast layer B ofcoarse sand, the mesh of which is suflicient to prevent packing thereofso that water will readily drain therethrough. This ballast layer isdisposed on the underlying ground C, andthe latter may define a pit intowhich the ballast sand is placed. If desired, a crib D of boards, or thelike, may be provided around the perimeter of the area A. The groundcovering layer E forming the subject matter of this invention is placedon the top of the ballast sand and forms a safe surface for athletes andplayers using the exercising equipment F, if the latter is provided, itbeing noted that some athletic and playing areas may be used withoutsuch equipment. When the latter is used, it may take the form of anyconventional playground or exercising devices now provided forplaygrounds for individuals of various ages.

As to the ground covering layer B, it is composed of the followingingredients and approximate proportions:

1 cubic yard of coarse sand, such as Olympia sand No. 2

or sand of this coarseness. 2 to 3 cubic yards of planer mill cuttings(redwood, birch,

3,334,556 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 The foregoing ingredients should bemixed together thoroughly, preferably by a tumbling action, in orderthat the sand, planer mill cuttings and the oil base product are mixedproperly. After the desired amount of sand and planer mill cuttings orshavings are mixed together, the oil-base product should be applied in aforced fine spray state while the three ingredients are being mixed. Thesand and mill cuttings should be in a dry state when they are initiallyintermixed.

Only coarse sand, such as Olympia No. 2 or the equivalent coarseness ofsand can be used as it will not pack or blow and will allow water todrain through readily as Well as mixing readily with the oil-baseproduct. Fine sand has a tendency to pack and will readily blow in awind. Also, fine sand does not allow good drainage or a good mixturewith the wood mill cuttings and oil-base product. On the other hand, ifthe sand is too coarse it would likewise not mix with the mill cuttingsand oil-base product and would defeat the purpose of a mixture of thetype intended.

As mentioned above, I do not wish to be limited to the use of Olympiasand No. 2, but it is well suited for my purpose and consists of washedsand particles having approximately the following characteristics:

Mesh of screen:

Percentage of volume No. 4 to No. 8 3 No. 8 to No. 16 14 No. 16 to No.30 40 No. 30 to No. 50 31 No. 50 to No. 10 No. 100 to No. 200 1 No. 200and finer 1 It is well understood that mesh refers to the number ofopenings per linear inch. In the foregoing table, it will be seen thatthe major proportion (57%) of the sand has a mesh between No. 4 and No.30.

Moreover, Wood cuttings, or any other wood product in any form otherthan planer mill cuttings or shavings will be either too fine or toocoarse for the correct mixture desired. This means that if the shavings:or mill cuttings are too fine they will blow, or if too coarse theindividuals using the athletic or playing area A will pick up splinters.These planer mill cuttings or shavings are as follows: The planer millblade should be set at A2" to in order to receive the correct cuttingssize.

In the search for a suitable oil-base product which would mix readilywith the sand and cuttings, it was necessary to find an oil that hadthin liquid and deep penetrating qualities to hold the sand and cuttingstogether, keeping them from blowing. Also, it was required that theoilbase product have a high flash point (temperature at which theinflammable material will flash in air) so that the mixture will notignite accidentally, for instance, when a lighted match or cigarette isthrown into the ground covering layer E, or cause spontaneouscombustion. Moreover, the oil-base product should have a pale color soas not to soil the clothing or skin of the individuals using theathletic or playing area A.

' The oil-base product is called Base 100 and is a commercial item ofStandard Oil Company consisting of a mineral oil free of asphalt. Theabbreviations used below are used through the industry as a standardmeasuring formula, and the selected product has the followingcharacteristics:

(1) Specific gravity: API 26 (API means American Petroleum Institutemeasurement).

(2) Flash point: At F. equals COC 335 F. (COC means Cleveland Open Cup,and the flash point is the lowest temperature at which the vapor willignite.)

(3) Viscosity: SSU at 100 F. equals 106 seconds time the oil takes toflow to complete the test. (SSU means Saybolt Seconds Universal.)

(4) Pour point: -45 F. (Lowest temperature at which the oil will pour orflow before becoming a solid.)

(5) Color: ASTM2/NPA Extra Pale. (ASTM-2 means American Society forTesting Materials Item #2. NPA Extra Pale means National PetroleumAssociation for Measuring Color.)

It is very important that the ground covering layer B should be preparedand placed on top of the ballast layer B of coarse sand, such as Olympiasand No. 2, in order to receive the maximum amount of resiliency, theproper amount of drainage, and for the minimum amount of maintenancecost. The amount of sand under the mixture is determined by the amountof total thickness of the layers B and E. For example, if you desire atotal of 8" in thickness with 4" of this mixture in the top layer E,then there should be 4" of sand on the bottom in the layer B as a base.

I claim:

1. Ground covering for athletic and playing areas applied over andsupported on a prepared granular base, said covering comprising:

(a) coarse sand, the major proportion of which has a mesh between No. 4and No. 30, so that it will not pack or blow and will allow water todrain therethrough;

(b) planer mill cuttings of wood shavings to form a springy base;

(c) an oil-base product of thin liquid having deep penetrating qualitiesto hold the sand and mill cuttings together, keeping them from blowing,the oilbase product consisting of a mineral oil free of asphalt;

(d) the oil-base product being characterized in its propertiesapproximately as follows:

(1) specific gravity: API (American Petroleum Institute measurement) 26;

(2) flash point: At 0 F. equals COC (Cleveland Open Cup) 355 F., theflash point being the lowest temperature at which the vapor will ignite;

(3) viscosity: SSU (Saybolt Seconds Universal) at F. equals 106 secondstime the oil takes to flow to complete the test;

(4) pour point: 45 F., the pour point being the lowest temperature atwhich the oil will pour or flow before becoming a solid;

(5) color: extra pale;

(e) the sand, imill cuttings and oil-base product being thoroughly mixedtogether.

2. Ground covering for athletic and playing areas applied over andsupported on a prepared granular base, as set forth in claim 1;

(f) and in which approximately the following pro= portions of theingredients are used:

(1) 1 cubic yard of the coarse sand;

(2) 2 to 3 cubic yards of the planer mill cuttings of wood;

(3) and 30 gallons of the oil-base product.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 175,273 3/1876 Cross 947 602,0234/1898 Mattern 9420 X 1,600,045 9/1926 Idris et al. 943 1,906,749 5/1933Grant. 2,350,279 5/ 1944 Hoeffelman 106285 2,856,301 10/1958 Badger10633 2,858,231 1 0/1958 Watson 106285 3,066,580 12/1962 Alberti 9433,088,836 5/1963 Garti et a1 943 XR JACOB L. NACKENOFF, PrimaryExaminer.

1. GROUND COVERING FOR ATHLETIC AND PLAYING AREAS APPLIED OVER ANDSUPPORTED ON A PREPARED GRANULAR BASE, SAID COVERING COMPRISING: (A)COARSE SAND, THE MAJOR PORTION OF WHICH HAS A MESH BETWEEN NO. 4 AND NO.30, SO THAT IT WILL NOT PACK OR BLOW AND WILL ALLOW WATER TO DRAINTHERETHROUGH; (B) PLANER MILL CUTTINGS OF WOOD SHAVINGS TO FORM ASPRINGY BASE; (C) AN OIL-BASE PRODUCT OF THIN LIQUID HAVING DEEPPENETRATING QUALITIES TO HOLD THE SAND AND MILL CUTTINGS TOGETHERKEEPING THEM FOR BLOWING, THE OILBASE PRODUCT CONSISTING OF A MINERALOIL FREE OF ASPHALT; (D) THE OIL-BASE PRODUCT BEING CHARACTERIZED IN ITSPROPERTIES APPROXIMATELY AS FOLLOWS: (1) SPECIFIC GRAVITY: API (AMERICANPETROLEUM INSTITUTE MEASUREMENT) 26; (2) FLASH POINT: AT 0*F. EQUALS COC(CLEVELAND OPEN CUP) 355*F., THE FLASH POINT BEING THE LOWESTTEMPERATURE AT WHICH THE VAPOR WILL IGNITE; (3) VISCOSITY: SSU (SAYBOLTSECONDS UNIVERSAL) AT 100*F. EQUALS 106 SECONDS TIME THE OIL TAKES TOFLOW TO COMPLETE THE TEST; (4) POUR POINT: -45*F., THE POUT POINT BEINGTHE LOWEST TEMPERATURE AT WHICH THE OIL WILL POUR OR FLOW BEFOREBECOMING A SOLID; (5) COLOR: EXTRA PALE; (E) THE SAND, MILL CUTTINGS ANDOIL-BASE PRODUCT BEING THROUGHLY MIXED TOGETHER.